


all in your head

by cherrysalad



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Delusions, Gen, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Paranoia, that's not the focus tho, they're not dating yet but it's gay i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 21:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14245929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrysalad/pseuds/cherrysalad
Summary: "i can feel a presence," he said "there's someone in there, watching me. i can't stay here."





	all in your head

"Do you ever feel like you're being watched?" Ryan asked, Shane drew his hand back from the popcorn bowl and frowned at his friend. 

"Not really," he said "why?" 

"It's just a feeling I've been getting a lot," Ryan said "I mean ever since Helen and I broke up. I'm alone a lot more now and whenever I do I get this uneasy feeling. It's probably nothing… you know how I am."

Shane bit his lip, squeezed Ryan's shoulder and didn't push the subject.

… 

Ryan looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes and Shane caught him nodding off over his computer before snapping back to life a few times. 

He was also jumpy, whenever there was a loud noise his eyes went wide and he glanced nervously around the room. 

"You alright, buddy?" Shane asked at the end of the day. He could see Ryan's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, hard. 

"I-" he began "can you come home with me?" 

"What?" 

"I don't want to be alone, can you come over?" Shane furrowed his brow and frowned.

"What's going on?" 

"I don't want to talk about it, can you just please come home with me?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." 

…

Ryan hesitated at the door for a minute before stepping into his apartment. It only made the concern that had been growing in Shane's chest swell. They walked inside and Ryan glanced anxiously around the living room.

"Ryan," Shane said softly, Ryan looked at his friend with soft eyes that looked as if they might grow wet with tears at any minute. 

"What?" He asked. 

"Something is obviously wrong," he said "I wish you'd tell me what." 

"It's nothing," Ryan lied quickly. Shane got the sudden urge to pull the smaller man against his chest and hold him there 

"You want to get pizza for dinner?" Ryan asked, yanking Shane out of his thoughts.

"Whatever you want," he said, smiling in a way that knew couldn't distract from the concern in his eyes. 

…

"Shane?" Ryan asked in the smallest, shyest voice Shane had ever heard from his friend. 

"Mm?" Shane asked. It was well after midnight and he was drifting off. Ryan stared at him with hesitant eyes for a brief minute. 

"Never mind," he said shaking his head and getting up from the couch "I'm gonna head to bed, okay?" 

"Uh-huh," Shane mumbled, stretching out his long legs in the empty space left in Ryan's absence.

"Goodnight," he said, lingering over Shane for a moment.

"Mhm," Shane murmured, his eyes were closed and by the time Ryan flicked off the light and padded to his room he was asleep. 

When he woke up again it was to Ryan shaking his shoulder violently. 

"Shane!" He was saying.

"What is it?" Shane asked groggily and rubbed the sleep bleariness out of his eyes.

"There's something in my room," Ryan said. His voice was low and dead serious, it took Shane a moment to comprehend what his friend was saying. 

"What do you mean?" He asked softly.

"I can feel a presence," he said "there's someone in there, watching me. I can't stay here." 

"Do you mean like a ghost?" Shane asked. 

"Something like that," he replied. Usually, Shane would write this off as Ryan being Ryan, but he's never brought this type of thing home before. He's never let it affect him in the real world. 

He looks so genuinely terrified, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.

"There's no such thing as ghosts, Ryan," Shane said, but his voice was gentle and reassuring instead of abrasive or mocking. 

"I can't stay here," Ryan said desperately "I can't. Take me to your apartment, please. Please." He grabbed onto Shane's arm and squeezed it tight enough to hurt. 

"Okay," Shane said uneasily "okay." He got up off the couch and stumbled around in the dark for a minute before finding the light switch. Ryan was sitting on the floor, trembling when the room flooded with light. Shane found his shoes and slid them on, he then reached out a hand to help his friend off the floor. 

Ryan was dressed only in soft flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, but Shane didn't really think he'd want to change. He seemed like he was about to collapse or start crying. 

He handed Ryan his sneakers and coat and watched as he hastily shoved his feet into his shoes, not even bothering to tie the laces. Shane opened the door for Ryan and then shut it quietly once they were both in the hallway. 

"So we'll take a cab?" Shane asked as they made their way down the stairs. 

"No," Ryan said "we need to walk." 

"Why?" Shane asked, hardly expecting a coherent answer.

"We need to walk," Ryan repeated. 

So they did, even though Shane's apartment was almost half an hour away on foot. The night air was sharp and cold, Ryan didn't speak and kept glancing behind them. Once they were halfway to Shane's apartment Ryan stopped abruptly and turned to his friend, eyes wide.

"I can't go back to your apartment," he said.

"Ryan, what are you talking about?" Shane asked.

"What if it follows me? What if it starts haunting your apartment?" 

"There's nothing following you!" Shane shouted, his concern and frustration finally coming to a boil. 

"You don't know that," Ryan said. "I know it sounds crazy but I can feel it. I just know there's something there." 

"Ryan," Shane swallowed hard "I promise, there's no ghost or spirit or any sort of paranormal creature haunting you." 

"You don't understand," Ryan said, his voice choked. Tears welled up in his eyes and one slid down his face, shining in the dim streetlight. Shane knew there wasn't anything he could say to make this better, as much as he wanted to. He just wrapped his arms around Ryan and pulled him into a hug.

Something was very wrong with Ryan, and Shane couldn't fix it, all he could do was hold him and let him sob.


End file.
